Marriage Licenses Issued in Kentucky County, but Debates Continue – New York Times

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Gay and lesbian couples waded through a throng of protesters and journalists Friday and emerged from the courthouse here as the first in Rowan County to be issued licenses for marriage between people of the same sex.
Less than an hour’s drive to the east, the county clerk, Kim Davis, who was ordered jailed on Thursday by a federal judge for defying a court order to issue the licenses, remained determined to stay locked up rather than relent, her lawyer and her husband said. They vowed to continue their efforts to reverse the court order and win her release, and they argued that the licenses being issued by deputies in Ms. Davis’s office were invalid.
By the day’s end, eight couples — six of them same-sex — had made their way through the charged crowds outside the courthouse and obtained marriage licenses from the clerk’s office. Ms. Davis had stopped issuing marriage licenses for anyone more than two months ago, after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that legalized gay marriage, saying that giving licenses to same-sex couples would violate her Christian beliefs.
The first couple to reach the clerk’s office, James Yates, 41, and William Smith, 33, picked their way through reporters and news cameras as a routine paperwork exercise turned into a national spectacle. Their voices barely audible, they stood before Brian Mason, a deputy clerk, answered a few routine questions and exchanged some papers. A cash register rang as they paid a $35.50 fee and collected their change, and Mr. Mason extended his hand and said, “Congratulations.”

Mr. Smith and Mr. Yates hugged tightly, and tears filled Mr. Smith’s eyes as he buried his face in his fiancé’s shoulder. They emerged to a roar of cheers and jeers from the protesters on the plaza outside. “I think it shows that equality is everywhere,” Mr. Smith said, adding that he felt elated. They could have gone to another county with a more compliant clerk, but “this is where we live,” he said. “This is where we pay taxes. This is our home.”
Another couple, April Miller and Karen Roberts, who were among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking to force Ms. Davis to issue licenses, got one on their fourth attempt.
“We got …Read More